Bacon and Cheddar Frittata

Frittata – a great ‘fast food’, perfect for brunch lunch or a light midweek meal. More robust than an omelette and it can be served hot or at room temperature. It is the perfect way to use up those leftovers in the fridge. You can basically put anything – within reason – into one. The eggs and potatoes are filling but bland enough to allow the flavours of the other ingredients to shine through. Just be sure to season, season and season again! In this one I have used bacon and cheese as the main flavours but the possible combinations are endless.

Some suggestions are:

• Pea, mint and feta
• Sweet potato and beetroot
• Smoked chicken and asparagus
• Salmon and dill
• Roast peppers and goats cheese
• Sausage, bacon and black pudding – a breakfast frittata!

I could go on but instead I’ll point you in the direction of Elly Curshen’s Instagram feed. Owner of the Pear Café in Bristol she regularly features a ‘Frittata of the Day’.  Plenty of inspiration for you there.

I made this in an 18″ frying pan, enough for 4 small or 2 more substantial servings. You can make this in a much larger pan to serve a group, increase the number of eggs and other fillings as you see fit. Here I’ve served it with some rocket leaves and tomato relish.

 

Ingredients:

• 250g or approximately 10 baby new potatoes
• 5 pieces of smoked streaky bacon
• 6 eggs
• 1½ tbsp. of chopped chives
• 50g of cheddar cheese, grated
• 10g of parmesan cheese, grated
• Salt and pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic

Method:

• If your potatoes are leftover cooked potatoes, finely slice them. If not, boil them in salted water for about 10 minutes until they are tender and then drain them and allow to cool. Finely slice them.
• Cook the bacon in a non stick or cast iron frying pan. When it is crispy remove from the pan and lay it on some kitchen paper to soak up excess oil. Break it into 2cm pieces.
• Put the potato slices in the frying pan with the bacon fat over a medium heat and heat through, taste to make sure they are fully cooked.
• Break the eggs into a bowl and whisk well. Add the chopped chives, cheddar, parmesan and bacon pieces. Season very well with salt and pepper and whisk again.
• Heat your grill to it’s highest level and have a rack ready there so that the pan will be about 3 inches away from the heat.
• When the potatoes are ready, crush the garlic cloves and add them to the potatoes. Cook for about a minute just to soften it. Be careful as garlic can burn very quickly.
• Add some more oil to the pan, you will need plenty to cook the frittata.
• Pour in the egg and bacon mixture. Stir gently with a heat proof spatula to disperse the potatoes and bacon as evenly as possible.
• Allow it to cook over a medium to low heat for a few minutes until you can see the edges have firmed up and are starting to come away from the edge of the pan. Put the pan under the grill to finish cooking for a minute or two. I take mine out when the top has started to turn golden but still has a hint of a wobble in the middle.
• Remove the frittata from under the grill and allow it to sit in the pan for about 5 minutes. It will continue to cook a bit. Use an oven glove to catch the pan handle.
• Slide or turn out the frittata onto a plate and cut into wedges. You can eat immediately or allow to cool. Feel free to grate more cheese on top as you know you can never have too much cheese!